Aspire Private Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Aspire Private Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 54.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,902 shares during the quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Barclays PLC raised its position in Bank of America by 97.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,130,538,000 after purchasing an additional 20,362,295 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its position in Bank of America by 1,071.8% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,082,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $474,150,000 after purchasing an additional 12,880,492 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $177,970,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Bank of America by 143.5% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,659,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,852,000 after purchasing an additional 6,281,690 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $168,610,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.54 on Tuesday, hitting $38.27. 12,369,684 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,412,789. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.77 and its 200 day moving average is $32.48. The company has a market capitalization of $301.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $38.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Profile

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.